Discussion -- 300 Word Challenge #9

[The Judge]

Phew. Mine's up. Last night I came up with an opening line I liked** but didn't get much further. Then this afternoon I filched a paragraph from my fantasy. (Having written 200,000 words about a mapmaker's daughter, I figured there was something in there I ought to use!) Then I had to try and work out how two very different elements fitted together. And I made it with over 2 hours to spare!



** and I still like it, despite the other half wandering around the house intoning the Noggin the Nog opening bars and pretending to be Oliver Postgate. (In case non-UK -- and our more junior -- members have never heard of it http://www.nogginthenog.co.uk/ )

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Judge -- a moody and somber epic fantasy

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

jastius -- an offbeat use of familiar fantasy beings

 

[stormcrow]

TJ - Noggin the Nog! That link takes me right back; had to thrust the laptop under the beautiful one's nose saying "See! See? Noggin the Nog!"

(apologies to all for off-topic thread-napping but I loved the Nog!)

 

[Ursa major]

The Challenge is now closed for entries and the voting is open. To cast your votes, use the link below.

Please vote for your top three choices; note that all three votes must be cast at the same time to count.
​

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I kept going over and over all the entries, trying to figure out how I was going to select three of them. I finally had to abandon the idea of the "best" and just jot down the names of those that spoke to me in a special way, each time I looked at them. With that in mind:

Short List:

Glen
springs
Juliana
reiver33
Heather Hawke
JoanDrake
stormcrow

Votes:

"Mapless on the High Seas" by EloiseA

"The Bridge Across the Sea" by Abernovo

"Broken" by Brev

 

[Starbeast]

BigJ - A tremendous heavy drama about a marooned individual on another world. Sad, but very good and involving story.

Chrispenycate - Surprises abound in this sci-fi tale about a survey on a planet which was an ecological experiment. Nicely written, and the author leaves the end of the story open to the reader. Nice touch.

TacticalLoco - Fantastic fantasy about the use of dragons for bridging the lands to bring prosperty for the people. Very cool idea. I like the hunting sequence too.

Ursa Major - A unique and unexpected tale which foretells the voyage to a new land where justice comes in the form of demonic horror. Good stuff, with a great finish.

Stormcrow - Great science fiction drama about a captive in his cell, on another planet reflecting about his life, as he clings to hope. Excellent.

Teresa Edgerton - A magical story which showcases two powerful beings who have a difference of opinion, and a surprising result. Outstanding, with a marvelous ending.

TheDustyZebra - A delightful and humorous science fiction/fantasy offering that made me chuckle. It will be a few days before I can get that weird image of a dragon being romantic with a ship out of my mind. Well done.

The Judge - Astounding tale of supernatural beings that shape the world with their magical blood. Dazzling imagary of the destructive forces used by the mighty Map Makers. Awesome.

Jastius - Comical fantasy with those giant reptiles of legend, dragons. Great and very unexpected tale of monstrous entertainment, a crazy Dragon Tour indeed. Good stuff.



Well, that raps up this month's entries. Now comes the choosing of three.

Which isn't going to be easy for me.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

As ever, very hard choosing. I got it down to a shortlist of Luighlin, Heather Hawke, Hex, Alc, Paranoid Marvin, Abernovo and The Judge.

And I went for:

Luiglin, just because the minions hand had so much character and made me smile.
Alchemist, for the ordinary hero. (The map reference was, as promised, a little buried)
Paranoid Marvin, because I like Dr Seuss very much and thought this was an excellent in the style of...

And a special mention for Betawolf for the lovely sci-fi-ing of a not very sci-fi image!

 

[Boneman]

Well, I didn't enter. I stared at the map, read the other entries, but just couldn't find any inspiration*, but kept thinking it would happen. It didn't. Congratulations to all those who have entered, and I look forward to voting.


*The only thing I actually came up with was the stupid joke about the Vikings invading, who hit the beach are are divided into groups and the first group - immaculately dressed in good armour, with the best weapons, are told to go and fight. The next group, not so well dressed, but big men are told to go and pillage and plunder, and the third group, who are dishevelled and look absolutely exhausted complain: "Not rape again!". But I figured it wasn't very good taste, even though I'd get a vote from Mark Lawrence

 

[Luiglin]

Very tough to choose this month but here goes.

Worthy mentions go to;

Springs - I like the twist on this one
David Evil Overlord - good tale
Perpetual Man - myth like story

Top 3 for me;

EloiseA - evoked images of loony tune pillaging
mosaix - for t' y'arr'ing and the end chuckle
paranoid marvin - clever Suess like melodic rhyme

Thanks Springs for the vote. I must admit that writing about the cowed minion and his Dark Lord is great fun.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks for the mention Luiglin.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Thanks for the mention, Luiglin.

 

[Bowler1]

The map never triggered any ideas, unusual for me. I’ve also been a little absorbed finishing my WIP so didn’t bother writing anything this time – but I’ve voted happily. All very good ideas and it’s been hard deciding who to vote for, as ever.

Nice one, Springs.
River33 – very good and a vote.
DOE - nice new creatures, well, by nice I mean new and novel!
EloiseA welcome, a good idea.
Hex, I liked.
Mosaix, wonderful and a clear vote – the parrot cracked me up, well done.
PM (Perp) & PM, both good.
Glisterspeck, a vote.
TDZ, I liked as well.

 

[Talysia]

Well, I ran out of time and didn't manage to get an entry in. Hopefully things will have calmed down a bit by the time the next challenge is set!

That said, I'll definitely be making the time to read through the stories and vote.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Thanks, Bowler!

And now (drum roll please).

My Short List:

The Judge – for life (and death) imitating art.
The Dusty Zebra – for nicating dragons.
Mosaix – for pirates and parrots, Arrr!

Votes:

Jastius – for rock and roll dragons!
Teresa Edgerton – for a sorcerer’s just desserts.
Hex – for an unexpected (happy) ending.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks for the mention Bowler!

 

[Hex]

Thank you very much, springs and Bowler1, for the lovely mentions.

And super-extra thanks with billowing clouds of black smoke and cackling, eldritch laughter to DEO for the vote.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Victoria, Luiglin and Bowler, thanks for the lovely mentions.

 

[mosaix]

Thanks for the votes, Luiglin and Bowler1. Thanks for the short list DEO.

 

[Talysia]

Well, I've looked through all of the stories, and finally picked my favourites. Firstly, my shortlist:

Victoria Silverwolf
Hex
Mosaix
The Spurring Platty

And my top three were Juliana, ratsy, and Brev. Well done everyone!